Gado-gado salad with chicken

This traditional Indonesian salad evokes memories of beach-side lunches in Bali, with its unusual combination of cool and spicy ingredients - great for summer entertaining.

Ingredients (serves 4)
* 500ml coconut milk
* 60g grated palm sugar
* 50ml fish sauce
* 4 small corn-fed single chicken breasts, skin removed
* 300g fresh egg noodles
* 250g baby or snake beans, trimmed
* 50g fresh baby corn
* 50g snow pea sprouts
* 1 carrot, very thinly sliced lengthways
* 1 cucumber, thinly sliced lengthways
* 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
* 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, halved
* 1 butter lettuce
* Fried onions* and chopped roasted peanuts, to garnish
*
Satay sauce
* 1 tbs peanut oil
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, crushed
* 2 small red chillies, finely chopped
* 3 tbs crunchy peanut butter
* 2 tbs kecap manis* (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
* 2 tbs lime juice
* 200ml coconut milk

Method
Place coconut milk, palm sugar and fish sauce in a shallow saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium, add the chicken and poach gently for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, shred and set aside. Discard cooking liquid (or cool and refrigerate for up to 2 days to use in laksas or curries).
To make satay sauce, heat oil in a pan over low heat and add onion. Pan-fry for 1 minute until just softened, then add garlic, chilli, peanut butter, kecap manis, lime juice and coconut milk. Cook over very low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly until well combined. Set aside to cool. (This can be made in advance. Keep, covered, until ready to serve.)
Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add noodles. Cook for 2 minutes, add beans and cook for 1 minute. Drain and refresh under cold water.
Arrange chicken, noodles, vegetables, egg and lettuce on each plate. Drizzle with satay sauce and garnish with fried onions and peanuts.

Notes & tips
* * Available from Asian supermarkets.